1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an image reproducing method and image data managing method, and more particularly g an image reproducing method and image data managing method for reproducing and managing images which are captured by a camera connected to a GPS unit, in accordance with GPS information.
2. Description of Related Art
In the GPS (Global Positioning System), it is possible to get the three-dimensional position (latitude, longitude and altitude) of any point on the globe by receiving radio waves from a number of moving satellites. Each satellite has an atomic clock, and it is possible to obtain time information from the satellite by means of the GPS.
There is a conventional system, where a GPS unit is connected to (or built in) a digital camera and where captured images and GPS information such as positional information relating to the captured images are recorded. In this system, when the captured images are reproduced, it is possible to know the global location of each captured image and retrieve a desired captured image according to desired locations.
A conventional image managing unit or image data base is inconvenient to use, because a user must set key words in advance and manually register images in categories of the data base. In particular, the user must register a number of informational items such as the latitude and longitude in order to manage the image data according to the positional information and the time information.
As stated above, the digital camera connected to the GPS unit records image data and GPS information such as position and time information. Hence, when an image managing unit produces an image file, the image data and the position and time information can be related to one another in an image format. By using the GPS information recorded in the image format, it is possible to efficiently categorize the image data to produce the image file.
An object of the present invention is to provide an image reproducing method and image data managing method for efficiently categorizing captured images, which may be captured by a camera connected to a GPS unit, in accordance with GPS information such as position and time, and for appropriately reproducing and managing the captured images by means of an electronic map.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, an image reproducing method of the present invention comprises the steps of: reading a captured image and GPS information relating to the captured image, recorded by a camera connected to a GPS unit; reading desired map data from a recording medium containing map data, and displaying, on a display, an electronic map including a capturing place of the read captured image; and displaying a thumbnail of the read captured image at an appropriate position on the displayed electronic map in accordance with the read GPS information.
According to the present invention, the location of an image can be easily determined with reference to a thumbnail of the captured image displayed on the electronic map.
To achieve the above-mentioned object, an image data managing method of the present invention comprises the steps of: reading captured images and GPS information relating to the captured images, recorded by a camera connected to a GPS unit; reading desired map data from a recording medium containing map data, and displaying, on a display, an electronic map including capturing places of the read captured images; displaying thumbnails of the read captured images at appropriate positions on the displayed electronic map in accordance with the read GPS information; entering an album name to produce an album; selecting at least one of the read captured images to be registered in the album with reference to the displayed thumbnails; and categorizing the selected captured image by the album name.
According to the present invention, the captured images and the location of each captured image can easily be seen with reference to the thumbnails of the captured images, which are displayed on the electronic map, and an album can easily be produced in accordance with the locations with reference to the displayed image.